Frances made aliyah from Cape Town 12 years ago, and only recently came to experience the joys of cycling. She has always been involved in outdoor activites - hiking, walking, tennis, but never careering about on two wheels. Having been persuaded by a friend to try out Cyclenix, she has not looked back since .... although she was convinced that the first ride was going to be her last, as the next day her muscles took their toll.
When she is not cycling, she can be spotted walking her and Jules' two boisterous dogs (it is difficult to decide who is walking whom), or wedged in front of her computer writing training materials or editing other peoples' books that will never be read.
A librarian by profession, books and language are close to her heart. Unfortunately, the Hebrew language has not taken hold yet (even after all this time) - so she has been heard to order a bakery with her coffee. A more eccentric activity is her knitting toys for charity - sadly each toy has it's own defect as she really isn't that good at it. But the knitting group put up with it and a child, somewhere, loves the toys....! She is one of Cyclenix's most regular riders and if I were to be asked to mention one prominent trait of hers, it would be here permanent smiling face! We wish her many more years of happy and healthy riding with us.
14 hardy enthusiasts gathered at the meeting point on
Saturday morning, muffled against the cold morning air.
First order of the day: Ted's new Specialized bike. All
gleaming and new (see picture), it was admired before we set
off, led by David.
We headed to Appolonia via Herzelia and around Kfar
Shmaryahu, took a break from the cold to warm up in the
exercise "playground". We marched on the
elliptical machines, did a few crunches, massaged sore backs
and then soldiered on.
Fighting the wind, we made our way to Yakum and then inland
again. It was a relief to see the Spingo in the distance and
the promise of something to warm us up.
It was a lovely ride with sunshine, lots of wind and very
little sand. All, in all, we blew around for 32 km.
Eleven of us met at the Hadera station car-park at 8 AM, to be greeted by the howling of dogs from a nearby pound. We set off enthusiastically despite the threat of rain, only to find by 9:30 AM that we had completed a circle and were back at our cars (and the dogs!). Apparently this was because of David’s new GPS, which is yet to be broken in and which John thinks is the technological equivalent of a homing pigeon.
Setting off again with renewed determination, we cycled through the Hadera forest, hitting a sandy section of the Israel Trail around Emek Hefer. We gratefully turned east towards the Geha Highway, and then south until we reached Nachal Alexander. (We may have detoured slightly via Ge’ulei Teiman where a nice lady may have given us directions from her garden, but perhaps I imagined that part!)
I had never been to Nachal Alexander, and was very impressed with the beautiful trees and lush lawns that skirt it. I felt for a moment that I was in Europe, so it hardly surprised me to read later that “The Alexander River, formerly a polluted stream and ecological hazard, was restored with the generous assistance of KKL-JNF Italy and France.”
We rode west along the river until we reached the sea, where we lingered to admire the view. From there it was north through Mevuot Yam and on to Givat Olga. In Givat Olga we stopped for refreshments at the classiest of restaurants (called MacDonalds) and then rode another two kilometers back to the Hadera station and our cars.
It was a wonderful 41 km in new territory (at least for me) with the usual great company and good exercise.
YOU.
This report is meant for you – the person on the CYCLENIX mailing list who has not ridden with the group lately.
You, who stayed in bed or for what-ever reason, ignoring the common-sense of fresh air, exercise, keeping fit, good company and also a fabulous ride. Come and join us.
Cyclenix rides are different – yes, they do have home patch rides (being comfortable with a known route is also important), but the regular away rides are fun as we explore or return to other sites.
We met near Reading Power Station in Tel Aviv as David Lewis lead 13 riders eastwards. Happy to see 5 female riders and 11-year old Din, son of Adrian Wolff’s neighbor. Along the route we pick-up another rider.
The Yarkon Park is delightful, with its manicured lawns, lake and path along the river. After the Ramat Gan Canion we followed a sand track between high bamboo stems, ups and downs, some mud and a ride across a stream. Stopping at 18 kilometers and still another 5 kilometers before the headwaters of the Yarkon, we all returned back to base, completing a very enjoyable 36 kilometer ride. See the photos. Some rode to the Tel Aviv port for coffee.
David Lewis was superb, pacing the ride according to the rider’s ability, while waiting for those behind. Din completed the route without a word of complaint and acquitted himself well on his first serious cycle outing. Hope to see you again in the future, Din.
"As I come to the end of a month in Israel, longer than I have ever spent here, I look back with great pleasure on the two 'cross-country' - at least they were for me - bike rides that I participated in with the Cyclenix. They were an exhilarating experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. Although I do ride my 'hybrid' Trek bike at home, I am nowhere close to being in your league, but now have something to aspire to. Thank you John, David, and all of you who made my leisure time here so memorable. May you all continue to ride in peace and harmony."
Malcolm
Ride Report - 10th Jan. 2009 - By Merrill
The weather was cold and crisp this morning when 15 of us gathered at Yad L’banim in Ra’anana to begin our weekly ride. The men outnumbered the women, two to one, but what we lack in numbers, we make up for in spirit and motivation. We began warming up by riding up Achuza toward the park and then turned left, going off-road. The route was not new, but there were some areas that we had not yet encountered. At some point we crossed over kvish 4, using our leg muscles to get up the bridge steps. We went northwest and stopped for a short break to admire the lovely sea view near Shefayim. The sea air was clean and invigorating, giving us the energy we needed to continue. We rode further north through Ga’ash, being careful not to wake the sleep kibbutznikim. There were sandy areas along the way, but most of the path conditions were pretty good. On our first serious sand patch, we all tried to stay to the sides to avoid the deep sand and one of us hit a rock and took a spill (will remain nameless, but my clothes are still full of sand). We traveled along the waterway that goes near Udim (I think) and found that there was no easy way to go across. Martin made his way across a makeshift timber bridge and left us, while we continued north looking for a more user friendly way to cross over. When we finally reached a bridge, we found that we would have to wait about another six months for them to complete the construction and as we were beginning to long for Spingo, we decided to try another option. In the end, we carried our bikes across a narrow dam and luckily nobody fell in. We began to make our way back toward the south and found that we were on the wrong side to cross over on the new bridge, so we ended up walking our bicycles across the train tracks, first making sure that no train was coming. Spingo seemed to be calling out to us, so we put on the speed to close the gap between us and some nourishment. It was then we spied the lovely orange grove on our left! We partook of some of the most delicious, golden, juicy fruit you could possibly imagine and this gave us the renewed energy to continue. During the ride, I thought I was seeing double, but it was Hylton and his twin brother – identical is an understatement! We had our usual refreshments at Spingo and made our way back to Ra’anana with the sun warming us along the way. The ride was approximately 38 kilometers and thoroughly enjoyable!
If you happened to be driving through Baztra today and saw a happy group of mud-spattered cyclists your eyes were not deceiving you. This was the group of Cyclenix on the last leg of their Home Patch Ride, quite unperturbed about the problems they would face when trying to clean both themselves and their bikes on their arrival home!
Sixteen riders met at our usual starting point and set off West along Ahuza Street lead by our "one and only" David!. We travelled West and turned off half way down Rehov Ha'Park making our way past the Herzliya Airport towards the Tel Aviv - Haifa Railway line where we headed North on the western side of the railway track. Yes....there was some mud on the way....also a few pools of muddy water that we had to traverse. This was the first real mud of the "winter" riding season.
A short distance before the Shefayim Railway Siding we hit a "nice" patch of waterlogged ground with a fair sized pool to boot! We all made it across, albeit with wet socks and shoes...some of us wetter and muddier than others. Opposite the railway siding there was a steep piece of downhill single track which a few of us decided to tackle. All those who tackled it, conquered it. Well done! The rest of the route was a route that we have often ridden, save for one small stretch which our leader, David found on Google Earth.
Our breakfast stop was at one of our favourite places, Spingo, where the atmosphere is great, the food is great and the service (with a smile) is first class. There we were informed by our ever-so-friendly waitress that this coming Wednesday evening (7th Jan.) there will be a live jazz session. Sounds like a nice way to spend an evening! If you decide to, dress warmly!
From there it was homeward bound to clean our bikes and then ourselves. That's another great ride under our belts. Thank you David for leading us.
Bicycle Unit of the Civil Guard (Mishmar Ezrahi), The Department of Community Affairs and the Civil Guard of the
Israeli Police Force in conjunction with the Israel Cyclists' Association call
on you to join the Cycling Unit of the Civil Guard.
Volunteer Now .
Follow the link for more details.
THE BOTTOM LINE ! : ALL RIDERS PARTICIPATING IN THE CLUB'S ACTIVITIES MUST ACCEPT THAT THE CLUB
CONSISTS OF A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, FOND OF RIDING IN EACH OTHERS COMPANY, ON
THE BASIS OF UNDERSTANDING THAT NO ONE TAKES OR BEARS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR
OTHERS AND EACH IS FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN LIFE, HEALTH AND BELONGINGS.
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